How to Write "Great" Romantic Love Poetry!!!

Writing "Great" Romantic Love Poetry!!!
~ A How To Guide ~

Writing a 'great' love poem starts with your theme (subject), the concept, idea, feeling or material/physical object that your poem shall center around. If you’re wring about a person (or anything for that matter), asks yourself what do I want to express about this person (thing). If you’re writing to a person, asks yourself what I want to say, express, to this person. Asks yourself, as well, also, how can I best do as such, best bring my message across and make it expressive of my true sentiments.

The key is, after you have your theme/subject is to build upon it, build around it. You have to build or built up your poem, layer it with the sentiment, expressiveness, authenticity, of what you’re trying to get across. What you want to do is use words, imagery, metaphors, that modify your subject, theme, such as descriptive phrases, adjectives, adverbs, nouns and alike. You must write not only to say but to express. You want to express that love, express that adoration, admiration, affinity. You want to express that of which has you so captivated, captured. You want to capture that emotion, feeling, and if it’s the beauty of your muse that has you captured so, then, your poem needs to be expressive of that beauty.

In your poem, no matter what it is you’re trying to impart, you want a congruence of expression, symmetry, in and of what you’re trying to voice, affirm. One of the hallmarks of a "great" romantic love poem or any 'great' poem for that matter is how well everything corresponds and/or reflexes, one another and is woven together - that is to say, that everything in the poem highlights or modifies each other, one another, and work together well. So, when you're writing a love poem - most especially if you're trying to write a "great" one - you want it to flow well, have rhythm. As I mentioned before, you want the poem to have symmetry, congruence. You, also, want to give your poem a tone and diction expressive of what you're trying to articulate, convey.

Everything in your poem must work together. Every word, phrase, line, of you poem needs to express, be expressive of that beauty, that love, adoration, admiration, infatuation, affinity that holds you. It’s not the emotion that makes a 'great' love poem 'great' but the expressiveness of it. Stating something can attest someone to it, but expressing it, allows them to feel it. The better one can express the sentiment in and of a poem, the better that poem will be. Don’t just say, “She is beautiful” or “I love her”, rather expound of that, example: “she is as beautiful as the sun setting, with orange glow, over the most picturesque landscape of beautiful garden foliage, yet, still, this does not capture nor compare to the beauty of my love.” Now, we have a picture in our minds of just how beautiful she is, and can somewhat come to understand the opulent splendor of her beauty, or instead of just simply, “I love her” say “I love her, as the flower love being kissed, by the sunlight and showered, by the rain, soaking in their life giving essence, and as the flowers get life, from those things, so does she give life to me." See, the key in trying to write a great love poem is expression, the expression and expressiveness of whatever it is that’s you're trying to resonate through and within your poem (being that of emotion, feeling, sentiment and such).

It is not the sentiment in and of a romantic love poem that separates a 'great' one from the others but how well that sentiment, feeling, emotion is expressed!!! All great love poems in some facet or form are well expressed. I would say, from my experience as a lover of romantic poetry and as a romantic poet myself that the number one key to a "great" love poem is the beauty, in and of its expression and how well that beauty is translated, expressed, in an elegant, eloquent, and artistic manner!!!

It's not what you express, but how (or how well) you express it!!!

Largely, what makes a "great" love poem "great" is its ability to captivate the reader and make the reader wish they where that person being adored, doted upon, to make the reader wish for a love like the one - of which they are reading. A 'great' love poem is a stirring love poem!!!

So am I right. What are the keys to writing a "great" romantic love poem???

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For those fond of the more amorous, lascivious writing, I also have a tutorial or erotic writing;

http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/discussion/topic.html?topic_id=30463

I have this strange feeling that, no matter how hard I try, I will never entirely learn to write love poetry the way you do, Robert...You seem to know an eternity more of it than I ever will. I never seem to find the time to truly study poetry. Something is always stealing my time away from me, the airforce, the planning of next year etc.

Thank you for the advices though, I will certainly look more into them whenever I have the time.

That may work for writing 'good' love poetry. but to write truly 'great' prolific love poetry, there must be genuine feeling and sentiment attached too. whether between friends or to a lover, great love poetry must pertain to a specific person, in order to resonate. you can study formulas and styles across the board, but your ability to write great love poetry is also a test testament as to your greatness as a lover too.

"It's not what you express, but how (or how well) you express it!!!"

This statement is a bit disturbing. I disagree. Poetry is about expression from the heart, and you can't really measure "how well" it is expressed. Everyone expresses themselves differently.

Many of those steps described aren't needed if you are writing from your heart instead of creating some artificial emotion...

thanks 4 da great tips ^^

I'd just lyk to add that both "SweetSadGuy" and Robert hav a point ... wat u wish 2 express is important yet the way you express it is also important ... either way i win ^^

I agree with a great deal of what you said, but I think that a really important aspect of developing unique and lasting love poetry is detail and specifics. Stringing along adjectives isn't enough, no matter how beautiful they are. I think that only by giving small details, like events that seem so ridiculous or commonplace that they have to be true (even if they aren't), can people really feel like they're allowed to connect to the poem on a deeply personal level.

Yes Sean, details and specifics are important. That's partly what I meant by saying that you should"build upon and around your poem, layer it, as well as being layered with true sentiment - ringing of your message, sublect, theme - and words, imagery, metaphors that modify your subject, theme, such as descriptive phrases, adjectives, adverbs, and nouns, it should also be layered with details, specifics. Wonderful piont Sean, wonderful.

I got the feeling that you were alluding to the point I made, I just wanted to make sure people made the distinction between flowery prose and powerful specifics.

Д βєąµ†ιƒµℓ £ιэ, you have an excellent point - concerning most writers - for most people who venture to write love poetry can't do it without feeling and sentiment , but I did mention sentiment, that your poem should be layered with the sentiment, expressiveness, authenticity, of what you’re trying to get across, but I chose not to focus on feeling and sentiment, but the fact is, if you write with the expressiveness and authenticity, of the sentiment you're trying to get across, genuiness will be there, But too many people just focus on the emotion and sentiment and not enough or not at all on writing well, on how well they express that emotion, sentiment, which they're trying to resonate.

SweetSadGuy, Д βєąµ†ιƒµℓ £ιэ, the major cusp of my piont is that a poem shouldn't only be feelings, emotion based, but also well written and/or expressed to be a 'great' love poem!!! Feeling, emotions, are important, crucial, but can you make me feel them with and by your expression. Like I said, "It's not what you express, but how (or how well) you express it!!!" It's not the sentiment that separates a 'great' love/romatic poem from the others but how well that sentiment is expressed!!!

Excellent points Dwelt, and very well said! But we must all so state that if one does not pursue getting better in and of the craft, pursue writing truly great romatic love poem then one never will, at least not at a consistant and high level!!!

So, what poets do each of you consider authors of 'great' love poetry?

I like Adel's fanciful work, such imagery he uses. He pours such resplendence in to his pieces. There are other good love poets here whos work I appreciate, also, such as Steven Beesley, HansRik, Dora, I just adore Meena, and there are other names the slip me now. CC&P has some good ones. But, as far as poets I consider authors of 'great' love poetry, well, most of them are dead, they're romantic poets form eras past, such as Byron, Keats, Shelley, Browning, and countless others that inspired me to try and achieve their standard. I put together a collection of what I considered some of the all time great love/romantic poetry and poets titled Greatest Love Poems. If you want to see, know, what I think great love/romantic is check it out!!!

Greatest Love Poems:
http://www.blurty.com/talkpost.bml?journal=rglove&itemid=3435

ooh, I love HansRik and Dora, and many others on this site. you're great too Robert. but you know that.

Great collection! though I disagree about Browning. I find her trite.and Shakespeare's Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day? is not a love poem.

Keats was great. unfortunate he never achieved the same status as Byron. they have similar genius.

everything you said was correct. i believe that its easier if your writing about anexperience that you yourself have been through.

"So, what poets do each of you consider authors of 'great' love poetry?" Beautiful Lie, that was and is a great question.